Birthday Cake
by Hoshimura Hinata
Summary: It was not his usual birthday, but it was just fine. L reminds himself of his previous birthday on his last birthday. Slight L/OC. Warning: some OCs and L/Light Friendship. No Yaoi.


**A/N: Just something for L's birthday, but, since I don't celebrate Halloween in my country, there won't be really any scary theme and, as I don't know if they celebrate Halloween in England, there wo9n't be any trick and treat.**

Unlike most people, L was not looking forward to his birthday.

It wasn't anything special to him, just the date of his births. The was never anything that mattered too much to him, since he usually just ate some cake while reading through some he might be working on. He had to admit that it was going to be a bit different this year, because he was not in his secluded room, with only himself and cake (maybe some sweet tea too), he was in the Kira Task Force headquarters, trying to process everything that happened in the last three days.

Three days ago, on October 28, they finally arrested Higuchi Kyousuke, the Yotsuba Kira. But, that was strangely the most normal thing that happened that day. The found out that not only Kira killed with a death notebook, but the one who gave him it was a Shinigami, a death god. That was also the date of the death of Higuchi, killed by (ironically, in L's opinion), by a heart attack. And if the supernatural occurrences weren't enough, he noticed that Yagami Light, number one suspect of being Kira, is acting differently.

These last months, Light had been different. He had always acted very mature and was always intelligent, but these last months he had been almost… Happy. Of course, he was always smiling politely and acting friendly, but, somehow, L knew they weren't real and the state Light had been were the proof he needed. But, since October 28, those restrained smiles had come back and L had to admit that bothered him a little bit. But there was not the time to think about his "friend", if he could call him that.

Frowning inside, the neutral-faced detective looked at the Shinigami who was floating around and wondered if anyone else felt as uncomfortable as him when she was around.

_Oh, well;_ He thought, stirring his overly-sweet tea. _No need to complain about Shinigamis in the work place. _Then, he sipped the tea, trying to not think about how strange that sounded.

"Good morning, Ryuzaki." Yagami Light said and he and his father, Yagami Soichiro, entered the headquarters.

"Light-kun, Yagami-san." He nodded at them, not taking his eyes off his laptop.

"Good morning, people!" Matsuda said cheerily, probably trying to hide how tense he felt about having Rem, the Shinigami, in the same room as him. Per usual, he ignored him.

He spent the day as any other, investigating, having Light trying to prove him he was not Kira, ignoring the incompetence of the Kira Task Force and eating some sweets. It was not until Five O'clock till Wateri arrived with the birthday cake and he had to admiti he was surprised. The cake was mostly white with creamy icing, white some light pink frosting lily adorning on the bottom of the creamy white cake. The strawberries on top of it were ripe and juicy, the red color reminding him of blood. It was actually very simple, but it certainly sparked a memory in the detective's mind.

"Happy birthday, L." The fatherly voice of Watari brought him out of his thoughts and he gave the old inventor a small upward tug of lips.

"Thank you, Watari." He said in his usual voice. Everyone was looking very much surprised at Watari's words.

"Today is your birthday?" Light looked genuinely surprised to know this. And, suddenly, his face broke into a bright smile. "Happy birthday, Ryuzaki."

He seriously wanted to believe that he was telling that because wasn't Kira. That he thought of him as a friend and not some obstacle to trespass so he could kill as much as he wanted and do his sick justice. L wanted to believe that the first friend he had made since he was very young was actually happy to know it was his birthday, to offer his sincere congratulation to him. Sadly, he knew that Light was smart and, beneath that bright smile, his mind was actually working to find out the help knowing of the date of his birth could bring him.

But, it was his birthday. Maybe he could allow himself to think that Yagami Light was really his friend. Just this once.

"Thank you, Light-kun." He gave him the same tug of lips he gave to Watari (the classic L smile) and turned back to the cake, ignoring the rest of the congratulations he was receiving from the rest to the Kira Task Force.

On top of the cake, was a piece of creamy white paper, camouflaged in the icing, but still not exactly hidden, as if the person knew there was no actual need to hide it. Picking up the soft paper from the English cake, he opened it up carefully, knowing that the probably playful message wouldn't give away anything for the people around him. His dark eyes scanned the message, trying to not let either a frown nor a smile taking over his face.

_Hey, Lily_ (just from the start, he already knew who was writing), _just something Ways cooked up for your birthday. The lily flowers were my idea!_

_**Hum, L**_ (the calligraphy changed, which made him fight down a smile over the from the other one made him), _**sorry about H, she is just grumpy because she ate only fourteen bowls of popcorn instead of her usual twenty-two and-**_

_That's because End and Paper-Plane are useless!_

_**Well, let's just say I couldn't say "no" when she asked me to make the flowers for the cake. I'm sorry if I offended you somehow.**_

_I don't mind if you're offended._

_**Anyway, happy birthday, L, we miss you… I miss you.**_

_Don't die, Lily. _

He just stared at the small paper in his hand, trying to fight down the emotions coming up in his chest and folded the note. Putting it in his pocket, he noticed that Light was giving him a strange face, almost worried. He ignored it for his own sake and began to walk to his chair sitting down in his eccentric way and looked at his laptop as if nothing had happened.

"Watari, if you may, cut a piece of the cake and bring it to me." L said, acting indifferent."Oh, and if anyone else wants a piece, they can have it."

"Really? Thanks, Ryuzaki,it looks delicious!" Matsuda exclaimed, running toward Watari like a child who was just told he could eat a cookie. Everyone else thanked him too, but L wasn't paying attention.

He was lost in his on memories.

Flashback

"_Surprise! Happy birthday, L!"_

_It wasn't as if he had not expected something like that, but it still surprised him that they went through it, even though he had insisted that he didn't want anything like that. But that was probably the reason they did it, after all. The lights burned his eyes, since he was used to darkness. There wasn't any actual decoration, just a table with a simple white towel with a strawberry cake on top. The people who he was acquainted with (who, strangely, insisted that they were his friends, only three of them looked happy to be there, the others looked bored._

"_You don't look surprised." Mello's smile turned into a frown. His straight blonde hair and hazel eyes contrasted with his dark clothes._

"_That's because he already knew, Goldie-locks." A beautiful girl with long bronze hair, grayish-blue eyes and fair skin said. She was holding a bowl of popcorn and started to munch on a handful after she said it. A Persian caramel-colored cat sat by her feet._

"_Heights, don't be like that, you know how Mello feels about his nickname." Linda, a chestnut-colored haired artist with warm hazel eyes scolded Heights, but she just shrugged. "But, L, how did you find out?"_

"_You all can't hide these kind of things very well." His answer was sincere, they were good with professional secrets, but not at organizing a surprise party. Some people's ears turned pink and some just munched on their popcorn._

"_That's true. You all acted like stammering fools." Matt, a boy with red hair and green eyes said, not taking his eyes away from his video game._

"_Matt's right, you know." A man with black curls and dark eyes said. His handsome face was illuminated by the light of his laptop as he played a game in it._

"_Ah, End and Matt are mean!" A girl with long red hair and amber eyes said with mockery. She was lying on her back on the ground, throwing paper planes on the air._

"_That's being sincere, Paper Plane." End answered his partner, who ignored him._

"_How about we don't fight and eat the cake?" Linda asked nervously and pointed to the strawberry cake. "Ways made it especially for today!"_

"_Well, if Ways made, it must be good." L said, knowing it was true._

_The blonde smiled softly at L, her greenish-blue eyes twinkled in happiness. She was in her wheelchair, sitting beside Heights and Linda. _

"_Thanks, I used special ingredients to bake this." Ways said gently, going towards the cake on the table."I used that special cream we got for Near's birthday cake last year." She motioned to the quiet albino boy with dark eyes who was sitting besides Heights."And I used that special strawberries from Garden's garden." She smiled at the curly brown-haired boy who was besides Near, who smiled back._

"_How did you know I like them?" The detective asked while raising an eyebrow. He was sincerely curious._

"_You liked that Special Strawberry Jelly sandwiches with sweet honey bread I made, so I thought…" The paraplegic swallowed. "That you liked the strawberries, like brother."_

_The mood was tense, since Ways' bother, Beyond Birthday, wasn't an easy topic for anyone. The girl's eyes got unfocused, like it always did when she talked about her lost family, specially her brother, Beyond and Always._

"_You were right." L said suddenly, making everyone look at him. "I liked it."_

_The blonde beamed at him, gratefully for the compliment about her deducing skills and taking her mind off her brothers. They stood there for a minute just staring at each other, until Linda screamed. The chestnut-colored girl was being attacked by Height's Persian cat, probably because it was bored and needed to attack something, being violet like it's owner. Matt, Mello and End immediately tried to get the cat off the artist, without success._

"_Heights! Get that damn demon cat off Linda!" Mello screamed, still trying to help her._

"_Don't call Muffin a demon! She's a beautiful baby kitten!" The popcorn-lover snapped, staying right where she was._

_Sometime after that, everyone was already enjoying the cake. Linda was rubbing her red face, Mello and Heights were competing about who could eat more of their favorite food (Mello was already at his twenty-fourth bar and Heights was at her thirty-eight big bowl), Garden and Near were playing with his toy robots, End and Paper Plane were talking and eating cake. L was on the corner talking quietly with Ways, who was also eating a piece of cake._

"_L, I nearly forgot your present." The blonde said, confusing him. L had thought the cake was enough and he wasn't used to getting gifts, so he was hesitant. Ways got something out of her pocket and showed him. It was a small lollipop. "You gave me one last time. I should have returned the favor sooner. You spend too much time away, but it's fine."_

"_I gave you one because you gave me one that other time.' L said, noticing the strange pink color of her fair cheeks."It was only fair."_

"_Ok, but take this, you can give me one next time you visit. Remember that I will want mine soon." Both could clearly see the meaning behind this._

_Don't take too much time to make your next visit._

"_I will." He said and smiled when her fingers brushed his when she gave him the lollipop._

"_Ways, Lily." Heights said, sitting besides Ways. "It seemed that Goldie-locks gave up, so no more food contest. And I ate all of my popcorn. Help me make some more, Ways?"_

"_Of course, Ha-… Heights…" Ways smiled warmly and started following her to the kitchen. "Talk to you later, L." She waved as she entered the kitchen with the eager girl._

"_She lied, that damn Heights." Mello said, walking besides Linda with his face burning red and claw marks on his neck. "I just stopped because that demon cat attacked me."_

"_I know, that cat is evil." Linda huffed and L had to agree. Muffin__** is**__ evil._

_But there was no way he was admitting it in front of Muffin._

"_Wait, are Ways and Heights in the kitchen?' Linda asked suddenly, noticing the absence of her blonde friend and the sneaky bronze-haired girl._

"_Yes." He replied shortly and Linda ran there, screaming at what she saw._

"_THE TABLE CAUGHT FIRE! AND THE OVEN IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM! THIS SHOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE! WAYS! HEIGHTS!"_

_That wasn't the usual birthday, but it was just fine with him._

Flashback End.

"Hey, Ryuzaki,can't you stop the investigating to eat with us?" Light's voice snapped L out of his thoughts.

"Yes, actually, I will, Light-kun." L answered the now very surprised Yagami.

Maybe he and Light could become real friends some day. And, then, he could introduce him to his other friends.


End file.
